And they call it Christian love: Many conservative Christians are taking pleasure in the false idea that Stephen Hawking is burning in Hell.

In a deplorable but not surprising development, many religious conservatives are claiming that Stephen Hawking is burning in Hell after the legendary British theoretical physicist and intellectual giant died peacefully at his home in Cambridge, England, at age 76.

Hawking, an outspoken atheist, is being attacked and maligned on social media by many religious conservatives threatened and offended by the implication of the scientific truths Hawking shared with the world.

For example:

Stephen Hawking is burning in Hell. Funny, his final thoughts were that he was going to enter eternal darkness. But when he woke up, he found himself before the Lord, his soul judged by him to be tortured for all eternity in the realm of Satan. pic.twitter.com/5lbPVAn0o7

Bottom line: Stephen Hawking is not in heaven, nor is he in hell. He is simply dead. Full stop.

There is no heaven, and there is no hell. Death is final, and that is tragedy enough. There is no afterlife. All we can do now is mourn the loss, and celebrate the life.

In the end, the fact that many conservative Christians are taking pleasure in the false idea that Stephen Hawking is burning in Hell only demonstrates the poverty of their intellect, their character, and their religious superstition.